"We don’t want to lay off teachers and we are working very hard through the tools at our disposal"

Newark school officials are considering laying off more than 100 employees in the central office, according to union and school officials. In addition, district officials will cut teacher ranks through retirements and by not renewing about 100 non-tenured teachers who work on annual contracts, officials said.

Also, as part of the restructuring, school officials said, as many as 55 parent liaisons who work in the schools will be laid off but the district said many may be rehired.

The potential cuts were announced at several meetings Friday and are part of the state-operated district’s attempt to close a $42 million budget gap, School Advisory Board chairman Rashon Hasan said.

"When we have a budget deficit, everyone has to do their share," Hasan said. "The Central Office staff was disproportionate. A lot of money has been pumped into the central office and not seen in the classroom."

Last month, a preliminary budget from Superintendent Cami Anderson raised the possibility of 400 layoffs.

The plan is an effort to cut the budget without laying off teachers, said Vanessa Rodriguez, chief talent officer for Newark Public Schools.

"We don’t want to lay off teachers and we are working very hard through the tools at our disposal — most importantly, the effective implementation of the provisions of the contract — in order to not be in that position this year," she said.

"This is not just a one year problem, however, and we need to ensure we have the ability to address the long-term fiscal sustainability of the district," Rodriguez added.

A district spokeswoman would not confirm the exact number of retirements, layoffs and contracts not being renewed because the plan is not yet final.

Hasan said there would be at least 50 retirements.

But officials said the central office cuts, if needed, will be made across the board, from several different job positions, and will include per diem and temporary workers as well as other non-union employees.

The notifications given to central office employees and parent liaisons are part of the legal process the district must begin if layoffs occur. They don’t mean all of the jobs will be lost. Final decisions will be made around June 24.

In addition, district officials said the cuts to 55 parent liaison positions are part of a restructuring that will see the district re-hire many of these employees. The union workers, who connect families and school officials, earn around $25,000-$33,000, according to public records.

"We feel the position is critical to our schools, and this restructuring is evidence of how much we value this work," Rodriguez said, noting that a high percentage of these employees live in Newark. "The job description doesn’t capture everything they do and we see this as an opportunity to address that disconnect."

Hasan said the move will actually help stabilize the positions because they would not longer be subject to civil service bumping rules.

"From a union standpoint it’s not good because they lose (members)," he said. "But there has to be sacrifice from all parts. We all have to give a little, take a little."

Newark Teachers Union president Joseph DelGrosso described the layoffs as retribution. The union endorsed Mayor-elect Ras Baraka, a Newark high school principal who repeatedly called for Superintendent Cami Anderson’s ouster.

"I guess it’s payback," DelGrosso said.

DelGrosso said the union will fight the cuts.

"We will have our meetings with the parties, from the mayor-elect to the commissioner (acting Commissioner of Education David Hespe)," he said.

Hasan said this plan means Anderson would not need the waiver she sought from Department of Education that would allow her to layoff teachers without regard to seniority. No decision on that request has been made, a spokesman for the Department of Education said.